


in the end, change

by everywinter



Category: Day6 (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, Fluff, M/M, Multi, aka Jae has issues but don't we all?, brief mentions of other kpop people, hunting culture varies between countries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-29 07:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15067736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everywinter/pseuds/everywinter
Summary: Jae has intimacy issues and tries to cover up all his feelings by worrying about food instead.And they stab a couple ghosts and hunt things. Just another Tuesday.





	in the end, change

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't tag this as graphic violence, but someone does get hurt (wow cliche much). And a non-living entity explodes.

“Ugh, I hate it when they explode.” Jae scooped something red and viscous off of his leather jacket with his hand. “Mother fuckers can’t even give us the decency of a clean death.”

 

“I told you not to stab it!” Brian was irritably trying to comb something similar out of his long, black hair. “I told you kappas tend to explode!”

 

“Hell no, you did not!” Jae threw open the passenger side of the van, thankful that Sungjin had though ahead and put a tarp over the seat before they’d left. “You told me to watch my back or else it’d suck my soul out of my butt!”

 

The door driver’s side slammed shut as Brian flopped into the van next to him. “You’re welcome. I know you’re saving yourself for marriage. Or Sungjin and Wonpil. Whichever comes around first.”

 

“Shut your dirty mouth.” Jae tossed a handful of kappa goop at Brian. “You can’t say anything until you deal with your giant, guilty, Yoon Dowoon shaped boner.”

 

The corner of Brian’s lip twitched.

 

“Bitch, you didn’t.” Jae’s jaw dropped. “How dare you. When did this happen? Why didn’t you say anything?”

 

Brian shrugged, keeping his eyes on the road. “Literally just last night. I wanted to mention it, but then we ran into the kappa way sooner than expected and it just sort of slipped my mind.”

 

“Wait, last night?” Jae’s eyes narrowed. “I was in the room all night last night and there’s no way Sungjin would let you bone his little brother in the bed next to his.”

 

“Why do you have to be so crass? I never said we had sex. We just talked and then fell asleep together. The guilty boner’s not so guilty anymore.” Brian’s grin grew even wider. “Dowoonie thinks your sleep-talking is very endearing, by the way.”

 

Jae groaned, “As happy as I am that you’re not being plagued by the whole ‘is it my whole kumiho witch-magic seducing him, or does he actually like me’ thing anymore, I’d really appreciate it if you kept it PG while I’m in the room.”

 

“Noted.”

 

Jae let his head fall back against the headrest. “I’m going to die alone.”

 

“Probably.”

 

“What the actual fuck, you’re my best friend, you’re meant to encourage me!”

 

“Yeah, no,” Brian gave Jae a pitying glance. “I don’t have anything to say that I haven’t already said before. I’ve offered to set you up with other people, I’ve offered to play matchmaker, hell I’ve even offered to make you up some sort of a truth potion to help you confess, but you’ve turned all of my suggestions down.”

 

Jae shifted in his seat. His jeans were starting to stick to his thighs. “I just don’t want to make the team uncomfortable if it doesn’t work out.”

 

“You’re hopeless.” Brian looked like he wanted to throw his hands up in the air. “All of you American hunters are emotionally stunted.”

 

“I want to resent that, but have to acknowledge that it’s true.”

 

It wasn’t Jae’s fault that the hunting culture was so different from America to Korea. Korea had an actual organized network. There were people to report back to, and there was paperwork to fill out. They even had an algorithm that kept track of which group was where and which group would be best suited to each job that came up. It was safe enough that many of the hunters had families who weren’t involved in hunting at all. They lived normal lives. It was beyond bizarre.

 

But bizarre in a good way. Almost as if Jae had stepped into some sort of strangely organized dream. There were an almost unlimited number of resources he could tap into, and the network was so large that if no one on his immediate team had an answer, they could usually have one in about 24 hours. The community was so much stronger among the hunters in Korea and Jae found himself quickly making friends. It wasn’t like back home where being alone was the norm. He felt himself putting down roots here, and part of him was honestly still unnerved by that.

 

“We’re home.” Brian called into the apartment, careful not to touch anything that couldn’t be easily cleaned. “You were right, Pillie, it was a kappa.”

 

“Welcome home.” Sungjin was at the kitchen table, tapping away at his laptop, while Wonpil and Dowoon were passed out on the couch. “They tried to wait up for you, but you know how they are.”

 

Jae grinned at the sight of the two younger members curled up together. “Weak.”

 

“Please, like you don’t pass out the second someone touches your hair.” Sungjin teased, “And why are you both covered in gore? Did you stab the kappa? I thought I warned you that they exploded?”

 

“See!” Brian gestured to Sungjin. “I told you so! For that, I’m showering first.”

 

The door to the bathroom was already slamming shut before Jae could even open his mouth to argue.

 

“Great.” Jae looked around awkwardly. “I can’t even sit down without getting everything dirty. I accidentally left the tarps in the van.”

 

Sungjin layered a couple newspapers onto one of the plastic kitchen chairs. “Here, I can just clean it up after. You look exhausted.”

 

“I am.” Jae sat down gratefully. “We walked along the riverbank for, like, an hour and a half before the thing came up after us.”

 

“That always sucks.” Sungjin turned his back to his laptop. “Was it at least easy to deal with?”

 

“Brian tried his whole ‘foxy charming voice’ thing, because he tries to reason with literally everything we come across, but it just wasn’t having any of it and tried to jump him for some sort of weird wrestling match.”

 

“They do that.” He confirmed, typing something rapidly. “Did Brian try and tip him over? If you spill the water out of the top of their head, they’ll get disoriented. Sometimes that’ll be enough to kill them.”

 

Jae shook his head. “He tried, but the thing had such a good grip that he couldn’t get him off. And, I swear, it’s like it had a stabilizer attached to its neck instead of a head. It didn’t matter how much Brian shook it, there wasn’t even a drop of water that spilled.”

 

“So, you stabbed it?”

 

“So, I stabbed it.” Jae shrugged sheepishly. “It was about to wrap its hands around Brian’s neck!”

 

“You just wanted an excuse to swing your dagger around. I almost never see you happier than when you’re stabbing something. I’d be worried if I didn’t understand it so well.”

 

Jae patted the dagger strapped to his side under his hoodie affectionately. “Money has sentimental value.”

 

“I still can’t believe you named it ‘Money’ of all things.” Sungjin squinted at the screen for a moment. “It’s vintage, kills everything from demons to vampires, and you named it Money.”

 

“How is that any worse than Atom or Cindy?” Jae retorted, “And what are you looking at?”

 

“Team 7’s off on Jeju Island.” Sungjin explains, turning the screen so that Jae can see too. “People have been dying in their sleep at strangely high rights. There’s been three in the past month, but they’re having trouble figuring out why. I was just looking over Jaebum’s notes to see if there was anything that stood out.”

 

“Wait, are you telling me Team 7 got to go to fucking Jeju Island while Brian and I had to wade around in the dirty-ass river for an hour and a half?”

 

“Don’t pout.” Sungjin reached out to ruffle Jae’s hair before noticing the gunk still in it. “Ew. That’s Pillie’s job.”

 

“Oh my god, remember that time I accidentally dropped his beast of a sword because I was trying to carry the chicken into the dorm too?”

 

“That was awful.” Sungjin groaned, “Didn’t you have to agree to check it over with a magnifying glass and do all his weapon sharpening for a week before he’d let it go.”

 

“It was a month.” Wonpil said sleepily from the couch, carefully untangling himself from Dowoon before plopping into the chair next to Jae. “And you didn’t even have to do it for the whole month. You did such an awful job that I let you off after week one.”

 

“Listen, who even uses a sword anymore? The thing’s longer than your entire torso.”

 

Wonpil gasped in mock hurt. “Don’t call Cindy a thing! She’s a lady of class and dignity.” He gave Jae an accessing glance. “Which is more than I can say about you. You stabbed the kappa, didn’t you?”

 

Jae tossed his hands into the air. “Why is it that everyone seems to know about this ‘no stabbing kappas’ thing but me? It was going to choke Brian to death!”

 

“Should’a let it.” Wonpil mumbled, cheek pressed into the kitchen table. “Then maybe you’d have gotten to shower first.”

 

“Snake.” Jae says affectionately. “Dowoonie would never forgive me.”

 

“Probably not.” Wonpil agreed, “Especially now that they’ve gotten past the whole ‘will they won’t they’ part of their flirting.”

 

Jae glanced at Sungjin who was still placidly typing away on his laptop. “You seem unexpectedly calm about this.”

 

“Dowoonie’s a big boy.” Sungjin gave Jae a small smile. “Besides, they’ve been tip-toeing around each other for ages. Brian’s a good man, and I know how much he worried that it was magic influencing Dowoon rather than genuine emotion.”

 

“I’m glad I don’t have to deal with any of that.” Wonpil declared, “Sure it’s cool that witches get to cast spells and stuff, but having this whole other part of your identity, that you don’t get to choose, that has such a huge influence on your life seems like it’d be really troublesome.”

 

Sungjin raised an eyebrow. “Like being gay?”

 

Wonpil rolled his eyes. “You can’t compare sexuality to being intrinsically tied to some magical creature since birth. Do you know how many beds Jinyoungie’s broken by shapeshifting into a fully-grown horse with wings in his sleep?”

 

“Four.” Sungjin rolled his eyes. “You told me, Pillie. And you told me how he almost crushed Mark-hyung to death on a camping trip one night too. I’ve heard literally all the stories, babe.”

 

Wonpil stuck his lower lip out in a pout and Jae felt something in his chest clench at the sight of the two of them so at ease together. Both men were attractive in their own right, but they really brought out the best in one another. Sungjin never seemed as sure of himself as when Wonpil was standing by his side and Wonpil never smiled as brightly as when Sungjin complimented him on a job well done. _Don’t even think about it, Park. They’re Made For Each Other. You’re the live-action double for Chicken Little._

 

“I really want to make a joke about him being ‘unable to be mounted by mortal men’.” Jae admitted, “But I’m so sticky and uncomfortable that nothing’s coming to me.”

 

“Luckily for you, I’m done.” A burst of steam followed Brian out of the bathroom. “All yours.”

 

Jae didn’t even really remember showering. The kappa was honestly pretty easy to deal with, but spring was in full bloom and the pollen in the air had been wreaking havoc on his sinuses. His head was pounding and he really just wanted to go to bed. Even Twitter felt like it’d be too much work.

 

He twisted the doorknob to his and Brian’s room. It was locked. He must have stood there for a good 10 seconds before Wonpil gently took him by the arm and started to guide him to the other room.

 

“I really don’t think you want to sleep in there tonight even if they open the door for you, hyung.” Wonpil giggled, “Sungjinnie already changed the sheets for you.”

 

Jae barely felt himself nod before he fell face-first into Dowoon’s bed. “Damn it, my glasses!”

 

Thankfully, only the lenses seemed to be smudged. “I really don’t understand why you still wear these.” Wonpil took them from Jae and put them onto Dowoon’s bedside table. “You don’t even need them anymore.”

 

“It’s for the aesthetic, Pillie.” Jae mumbled, “You two wouldn’t get it, you’re already insanely good looking.”

 

“I’m really looking forward to talking to him in the morning when he remembers he said all these things.” Wonpil said to Sungjin, grins stretching from ear to ear. “He’s gonna be so embarrassed.”

 

Sungjin’s smile was equally as wide. “I know. I feel like he’s funnier half asleep than fully awake.”

 

“I’m always funny.” Jae said, “You guys just can’t properly appreciate my humor.”

 

“You’re hilarious.” Someone ran a hand through his hair, but Jae’s eyes were already close. “Go to sleep.”

 

“I talk in my sleep.” Jae warned, “Brian says sometimes I speak Japanese. I just thought I’d let you know.”

 

“Shh… sleep.” He thought he felt something warm brush against his brow before he drifted off.

 

Jae woke up, facing an unfamiliar wall, to the sounds of someone making breakfast in the kitchen. His limbs were heavy and he felt like he was being pinned in place.

 

“Stop wiggling around,” Wonpil tightened his grip around Jae’s waist. “I’m trying to pretend to sleep.”

 

_Oh. OH._

 

“What are you doing in bed with me?” Jae could feel his heart racing. “Where’s Sungjin?

 

“Cooking breakfast. I don’t like sleeping by myself.” Wonpil’s voice was matter-of-fact and raspy with sleep. “Shh, no more talking or he’ll make us get up and help.”

 

Wonpil buried his face into Jae’s back and he hoped to every god he knew that Wonpil couldn’t feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his chest. He was certain that he’d fallen asleep alone and waking up to Wonpil pressed flush against him, while not entirely unpleasant, was unexpected to say the least. And Jae wasn’t used to being the little spoon (not that he was about to complain about that either). Everyone he’d slept with before had always assumed he’d want to be the big spoon, Jae had never minded before, but being held against the wall with Wonpil flush against his back just felt right.

 

“Hyung, did I leave my face wash- oh.” Jae flipped around so abruptly, almost tossed Wonpil right off the bed. His mad scramble to keep Wonpil from falling onto the hardwood had resulted in Jae pressed chest-to-chest against Wonpil. Their faces were so close he could probably count his individual eyelashes if he wanted.

 

“Right…” Dowoon grabbed something off the desk and Jae could hear him shuffling awkwardly back towards the door. “I’ll just leave you two to it then. Sorry to interrupt!”

 

“You weren’t interrupting anything!” Jae said a beat after the door had already slammed shut. He let go of Wonpil and sat up against the wall, blinking rapidly. “So, I guess Sungjin knows we’re up now. I’m just going go wash up.”

 

Wonpil grabbed his wrist before he could make it more than a step away from the bed. “Wait, we should talk.”

 

“Woah, what is this, The Heirs? Let go, dude.”

 

The grip around his wrist loosened, but Wonpil wove his fingers through Jae’s instead. “I’m serious. All three of us should talk. We’ll go to that seafood place you like, Sungjin actually made a reservation yesterday already when you and Brian were out.”

 

Jae felt like he was going to throw up. He was sure that they knew about his feelings and were trying to let him down easy. Why else would Sungjin be okay with the seafood palace? He didn’t even like seafood.

 

“I’m actually busy tonight. Matthew and I have plans to play basketball together.”

 

Wonpil scowled. “Don’t lie to me, you were complaining last weekend that you didn’t have anyone to play with because Matthew was going back to LA for a month to visit his family.”

 

“Did I say Matthew? I meant Sammy.” He really hoped he wasn’t sweating. “Sammy and I are going to do something together.”

 

“Cancel it.” Jae almost jumped at Sungjin’s voice suddenly coming from behind him. “Reservation’s at 6:30. We’re paying and we’ll wait for you to order.”

 

“That’s just unreasonable.” Jae didn’t even know why he was bothering to argue at this point. “You can’t just expect me to plan my life around you.”

 

“Just tonight then.” Wonpil pleaded, “Please, Jae.” He says the last part in English and Jae feels something in his chest clench. That’s just playing dirty.

 

“Fine. There better be lobster in this for me.”

 

“Anything you want.” Jae felt the back of his neck grow warm with the force of Sungjin’s smile. “We just want to make sure you’re happy tonight.”

 

 _Soothing the sting of rejection with food. It’s a smart plan._ “Free food always makes me happy.”

 

“Great!” Wonpil shook their joined hands. “It’s a date.”

 

“Right.” Jae tried his best to make his smile look less like he was being held at gunpoint. “It’s a date.”

 

Then there’s a situation with a vengeful spirit haunting a hotel and someone’s already been pushed down three flights of stairs, so of course Team 6 is sent to investigate.

 

“So, I really don’t know. I want to just get it over with and not have to think about this anymore, but at the same time, no one wants to get rejected. Do you think it’ll be better, or worse if it happens while I’m actually eating the lobster? I feel like it’ll make me feel better, but at the same time, what if every time I eat lobster after that, all I can think about is that time I was totally shot down by the loves of my life?”

 

“Uh, I really couldn’t say…” Dowoon tossed his iron-knuckles from hand-to-hand. “Hyung, I think we should really pay more attention to the emergency exit. Reports say that the spirit really likes to sneak up behind people and throw them down stairs.”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Jae waved his concerns away and patted Money fondly. “I’m always ready to stab a ghost. But seriously, should I order the lobster, or not?”

 

Dowoon sighed. “I think you’re overthinking this. It’s not always the worst case scenario.”

 

Jae rolls his eyes and pushes his glasses up his nose. “I don’t know what I was expecting, asking a baby for advice.”

 

“I don’t know either. Seriously though, stop spinning around like that. We should stay back-to-back so it can’t sneak up on us.”

 

“It’s whatever, it’s fine. I really need your help with this Dowoonie. It’s a matter of life and death. I don’t know if I’ll be able to live with myself if I let lobster, the food of the gods, become tainted. But it’s also free lobster, and you know how I feel about free food.”

 

“Just order the lobster. It isn’t nearly as big a deal as you think it’s gonna be. Have you ever thought that Wonpil and Sungjin-hyung might be telling you something that you actually wanna hear?”

 

“Ah, Dowoonie, young, sweet, and naive. It worked out for you and Brian because you’ve both been pining for years. The pining has been completely one-sided in this case. Your brother and Wonpil are MFEO, made for each other, and I’m just the awkward dead fish floating by their love-boat.”

 

“The fuck kind of analogy is that?” Brian rounded the corner, thankfully alone; eyes still glowing gold from whatever spell he’d been casting. “We’re done. I found the body at the bottom of the elevator shaft and Pillie’s torching it now.”

 

“Bri, what do you think? Lobster, or no lobster?”

 

“I think you need to stop pushing all of your pent up feelings onto a crustacean.” He leaned over to give Dowoon a kiss on the forehead, the younger man’s face immediately flushing red. “If you think that the two of them are going to bother waiting another day rather than cornering you in the dorm somewhere tonight, you’re deeper in denial than I thought.”

 

“Ugh, if you guys are going to be all mushy, I want in front.” He squeezed past the couple. “Oh god, you’re right. I can’t do this tonight. I haven’t had enough time to prepare. What if I cry, Brian?”

 

“Then you cry.”

 

“Wow, thanks for the sympathy. Seriously though, I’m grabbing clothes out of the dorm then hiding out at Kevin’s tonight. Don’t lock me out again or else-” Jae turned around to deliver his threat with eye-contact and was greeted with the sight of a flaming spirit. The man was clothed in club attire and the flames were licking their way up his body. Jae immediately pulled out his dagger, but was a beat too late. Before he could plunge his knife into the spirit’s chest, it’d already wrapped its arms around his waist and shoved the two of them off of the stairs. Jae was distantly aware of the strange hot-cold feeling from the spirit and the flames, the feeling of his hip colliding harshly with the safety railing on the side of the stairs, before he found himself falling.

 

He desperately reached up, trying to find some type of purchase, before his head collided with something hard and he felt his glasses fly off his face. Focusing became even harder after that but Jae could have sworn he remembered seeing Brian’s face, eyes glowing bright, hair a flame around him, reaching a hand towards him before everything was covered by a flash of gold before going black.

 

Jae woke up in the hospital.

 

The room was empty, save for Brian passed out on the couch on the corner, and Jae’s head was pounding. He must have made some type of noise because the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by his teammates.

 

Sungjin must have noticed him wincing at the noise, because everyone was ushered outside and only the two of them were left in the room when the doctor entered, and shone a penlight into his eyes. Jae answered the doctor’s questions while Sungjin hovered on the opposite side of Jae’s bed. The doctor gestured for Sungjin to leave the room with him and the two spoke outside for a few moments while Jae closed his eyes and tried to will sleep to overtake him again.

 

“How do you feel?” Sungjin was obviously making an effort to keep his voice low. “The doctor says he wants to keep you overnight, but you should be okay. I’m gonna try and send the others home, but you might have to deal with all five of us jammed into your room tonight.”

 

“I feel like a truck’s run me over.” Jae could hear the slur in his voice. “I want to die.” He added in English.

 

“Ahh, none of that!” Sungjin probably would have smacked him if Jae wasn’t already suffering from a head injury. “Doctor says that you can press this button and it’ll give you pain medication. Its got a sedative effect though, so you’ll get sleepy.”

 

Jae hadn’t even finished listening to Sungjin’s explanation before he was furiously jamming his thumb into the button as hard as he could. Everyone else filtered in and Jae was able to get a good look at his teammates for the first time since he woke up. Brian looked like Dowoon was the only thing holding him upright and Dowoon was clinging to Brian like a lifeline. Wonpil was uncharacteristically withdrawn, arms crossed around his chest protectively. His eyes were swollen and he kept on wringing his hands anxiously.

 

“Dude,” His voice cracked and Sungjin held a straw to his mouth urging him to take a sip of water before he tried to speak again. “what actually happened? You guys look like you should be the ones in the hospital bed.”

 

“I don’t know how much you remember, but Wonpillie was getting ready to salt and burn the body when I left to find you and Dowoon. It should have been straightforward, but it turns out when the body fell, his class-ring had fallen off his finger and his spirit was able to latch onto that to keep from disappearing entirely. The whole ‘ghost on fire’ thing we saw was the spirit trying to get one last jab in before it was dispelled.”

 

Jae could already feel his eyes slowly sliding shut. “Yeah, I remember that part. Get to the good stuff. I know I fell off of the stairs and hit my head, but not much beyond that. Did you do some sort of magic thing to catch me?”

 

“It was amazing!” Dowoon’s voice was quiet, but his excitement was still clear. “Brain-hyung was amazing! His eyes glowed all gold, his hair turned all red, and his teeth got all sharp and stuff. He did some sort of mid-air hand action and the ghost went flying away from you into the wall, and you just sort of hung there in the air, while Brian-hyung started chanting something super fast and the ghost just burst into flames and disappeared! It was crazy!”

 

“Dowoonie,” Brain said fondly, “breathe. It wasn’t that great. I’m not built for that sort of magic though, so it took a lot out of me. I lifted you back up to the landing on the stairs, but I was so exhausted, I think I might have passed out a little after that.”

 

“That’s when Wonpil and I showed up.” Sungjin herded Brian and Dowoon back on to the couch. “Brian had fainted, but was coming too, but you just wouldn’t wake up. Don’t try and touch it, but you’d hit a railing or something on the way down and you’ve got a really nasty gash on the back of your head. You know how head-wounds tend to bleed, and with your hair as blond as it is, it looked like you were half dead by the time we got to you.”

 

“Well, I’m obviously fine. You guys should go home. No point in all five of us spending an uncomfortable night in a hospital room.”

 

“Shh…” Sungjin gently brushed Jae’s eyes closed. “Go to sleep.”

 

“You always say that…” Jae slurred, woah, they really gave him the good drugs. “You’re always catching me unaware and being all caring, gentle, perfect, and shit and it’s making this whole secret-unrequited feelings thing really hard to keep under wraps.”

 

“Jae, you’re speaking English again.” Brian’s voice sounded like it was coming from the next room. “And you should really, really stop talking now.”

 

“Why?” He muttered, squishing his face into the pillow. “Man can’t even brood in peace now? You’re all paired off and I’m going to die alone. I’m going to be Weird Uncle Jae that your kids complain about you inviting to holidays because I have no one to spend them with. Or I’m going to go back to hunting on my own and get eaten by a rougarou. And no one’s gonna know what happened to me or even know to miss me until the next Christmas rolls around and I don’t respond to your Facebook message about coming for dinner. Except there’s no rougarous in Korea, so I’ll probably get my soul stolen out of my asshole by a kappa or something…”

 

Jae smacked his lips together and pulled the thin hospital sheets tighter around himself. He could hear Sungjin asking a question, but the drugs had most definitely kicked, because Jae couldn’t even make out what Sungjin was saying, much less formulate an answer.

 

If he dreamed that night, Jae didn’t remember come morning.

 

Jae woke up to the sun streaming in through the window and a heavy weight on his thigh. He looked down to see Wonpil asleep against his leg. There were dark circles smudged under his eyes and he was breathing heavily through his slightly open mouth. The rest of the room was empty and Jae had to resist the super creepy urge to run his fingers through Wonpil’s hair.

 

“Stop wiggling around.” Wonpil opened one eye before closing it again, reaching out to take Jae’s hand. “I’m trying to pretend to sleep.”

 

“Why does everything feel like déjà vu with the two of you?” Wonpil’s hand was warm in his. “What time is it? Did everyone go home?”

 

“Dowoonie and Brian went home. Sungjinnie went to get some coffee, since he’s been up all night.” Wonpil blinked blearily at the watch dangling on his wrist. “It’s half-past one in the afternoon.”

 

“Wait,” Jae pulled his hand closer for a better look. “is that my watch?”

 

“They took it off when they brought you in, and I know it’s really special to you, so I held onto it to make sure nothing would happen to it.” He clasped the watch back around Jae’s wrist.

 

“Thanks for holding onto it for me. I don’t think I ever told you, but my grandfather gave this to me.”

 

“You must treasure it a lot,” Wonpil’s fingers brushed over the face of the watch, and the skin of Jae’s wrist, before pulling back again. “I rarely see you without it.”

 

“It’s like an extension of my arm, I’m not really sure what I’d do if something happened to it.”

 

“I can.” A wiry grin stole over Wonpil’s face. “I remember that time we were chasing something, maybe a skinchanger, and we had to follow it into a sewer so Sungjin packed everything up to be disinfected and your watch got caught in the mix. You tore the entire apartment apart looking for your watch.”

 

“I remember that.” Sungjin walked in, handing Wonpil a cup of something hot. “We found it on your dresser. Brian had put it there so it didn’t get swept up with the rest of the stuff and tossed into the washer.”

 

“And you wouldn’t tell anyone what you were looking for either, so we couldn’t help. You always do that.” Wonpil’s grin has faded into a small frown. “You never want to tell us when something’s wrong and always bury all your feelings and try to handle everything on your own.”

 

“Woah, where’s this coming from?”

 

Sungjin’s brow wrinkled. “You don’t remember what you said last night? About you being ‘Weird Uncle Jae’ and getting your soul stolen out of your butt?”

 

“Uh, I sort of remember rambling about something in English? I’m more surprised you understood.”

 

“I don’t know why. You know my reading and listening skills are good, it’s just speaking that’s the problem. And don’t try and change the subject, Wonpillie’s right. You never tell anyone when something’s wrong and you always insist on shouldering all the blame even when it isn’t anyone’s fault.”

 

“It’s not my fault, I’m a product of my upbringing!” Jae felt pinned in place.

 

“You can’t blame everything on cultural differences, Brian’s been to Canada and he says not all the hunters are like this. This is just a Park Jaehyung issue.”

 

“Look, I’m trying really hard, but it’s hard not to feel like the odd one out when you’re surrounded by couples all the time. I’m not blaming anyone, it’s my own insecurities.” He added when Sungjin opened his mouth to argue.

 

“See, you’re doing it again! Making everything your fault.” Wonpil’s hand was warm from the drink as held Jae’s in his own. “We should have made a better effort to make sure you knew just how much we cared about you. How important you are to us…”

 

“You were right, Pil, we shouldn’t have waited so long…” Sungjin placed a hand on Jae’s knee. “We like you, Jae.”

 

“Uh, thanks, I like you guys too?”

 

“No, we _like_ you. We have feelings for you. That’s what we were going to tell you at the restaurant las night before all this happened.” Wonpil gave Sungjin a half-fond, half-annoyed look. “Somebody insisted that we make a grand gesture of some sort, but I could have sworn you knew what I was getting at when I asked you to come to the restaurant, but I guess not.”

 

“Sounds fake, but okay…”

 

“Are you seriously quoting an old meme at us?” Sungjin laughs, “We’re opening up our hearts here. At least give us a proper rejection if you don’t feel the same way.”

 

“I… feel something not entirely platonic towards you guys too. But you guys are pretty much the perfect couple already, you don’t need someone like me jamming up your vibe.”

 

“There’s nothing perfect about either of us and you know it. Remember that time the two of us got into a fight and Sungjin slept on the couch for almost an entire week because every time we looked at each other, we just started yelling again?” Wonpil brushes his lips against Jae’s knuckles. “What we have is good, but we really think it could be even better with you.”

 

Jae really hoped his ears weren’t as red as they felt. “I can’t believe we’re having this discussion right now. I’m not even wearing pants.”

 

“We’ll excuse it.” Sungjin pushes the hair out of his eyes, a grin stealing over his face. “Let’s at least try. When you’re better, come out on a date with us.”

 

“What if the date goes horribly and you guys don’t want me anymore?” Jae asked, “I don’t want to ruin the group dynamic for what ‘could be’.”

 

“You won’t, I promise. Jae-hyung, we’ll love you no matter what, but we’d never make you do anything you’re uncomfortable with. If you decide you just want to stay friends after our date, we’ll never bring it up again.” Wonpil’s previously tired face brightened. “Even if you don’t want to try at all, we’ll still take care of you. You don’t have to return our feelings, but we just really needed you to know.”

 

Jae sat in silence for a little, fiddling with his watch.

 

“I suppose it couldn’t hurt…” Jae said slowly, “But you have to promise, if it goes bad, we never talk about it again.”

 

“I’ll take an oath if you need one.”

 

“Jesus, Pillie, that’s dramatic even for you.” Jae laughed, before wincing at the ache in his head. “I think I need to sleep a little bit more.”

 

Sungjin carefully fluffed Jae’s pillow as Wonpil arranged the blankets around him. “I’ll wake you up around dinnertime. Dowoonie said he’d cook, so there’ll be food waiting for us at home.”

 

The pessimist in Jae kept whispering that this was a bad idea, but falling asleep with Wonpil’s hand in his and Sungjin’s rasp in his ears, Jae couldn’t find it in himself to worry too much.

**Author's Note:**

> ANYONE ELSE WANNA TALK ABOUT THIS COMEBACK?? It took some self-control not to title this "Bang Bang" just for the sake of it.
> 
> This fandom needs more threesome fic. I'm here to deliver poor quality placeholders until someone better comes along (please, come fast).


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